France is to impose a mandatory quarantine on visitors from the UK to prevent the spread of the Indian variant of coronavirus, the government has said.

Spokesman Gabriel Attal said the new measure will be similar to limits imposed in Germany on people traveling from the UK.

“France is going to take similar measures and so put in place obligatory isolation for people who come from the United Kingdom,” he said.

He did not say when the quarantine will be introduced. He said more information will be released shortly.

From Sunday, Germany started requiring people arriving from the UK to go into quarantine for 14 days, in response to the spread in Britain of the Indian variant.

Airlines and others are also only be able to transport German citizens and residents from Britain.

The possibility of tighter French restrictions for British visitors was first raised on Sunday by foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The minister suggested Britain could be put in a health category of its own, somewhere between the strictest measures France is imposing on visitors from India and 15 other countries, and more relaxed requirements being readied for visitors from the European Union and some other countries.